Page 131 of Moonless

He laughs once, then looks past me at the trees.

“You rubbed yourself on my trees.”

“Your trees? They were in my way.”

His eyes come back to mine. “That’s not how this works.”

I look down at where I’m sitting, with his hands still holding me there. He’s hard under me, thick against the inside of my thigh through his trousers, and I don’t think that’s from the running.

“Seems to have worked.” I bend and kiss him.

He lifts his head to meet me, and the needle in his brow brushes my forehead.

“Kestria, you—”

I kiss him again before he gets any farther. His laugh catches against my mouth, and his right hand comes up to cup my face. The two fingertips he’s kept bitten blunt rest against my cheek.

I loosen my grip on his fur and touch his neck instead. He’s still smiling.

I pull back enough to look at him. “I liked hearing you. I could hear you all the way out here.”

His thumb moves beside my mouth. “You were meant to.”

I brush the needle off his brow. There’s another one caught farther back in his hair, but he pulls my face down and I leave it there.

He takes his time with this one. I lean into the hand at my cheek and let him hold me while I get my breath.

When he lowers his head again, I see the torn strip tucked into his waistband.

“You found it.”

“Eventually.” His chin lifts.

One ear tips back when he admits it, and I grin.

His hand slides back from my cheek into my hair. He keeps me close enough that his nose brushes mine.

“Do you still want to be my mate?”

I put my hand along his face, with my thumb beside his fang.

“Yes. The mating, the claiming. All of it.”

He watches me a little longer, then turns his face into my palm.

I wait until he looks up again. “And you?”

“Yes.”

I kiss him again, and he lifts toward me until I have to brace a hand on the ground beside his head. That pulls my back. Shit. I stop with my mouth against his, waiting for it to ease.

He lowers his head and looks at my shoulder.

“The back,” I tell him. “It’s all right if I don’t bend that far.”

His hand comes up under my ribs to take the weight, so I settle closer and kiss the side of his mouth. He keeps his face turned toward mine, breathing through his mouth.

Then he draws back.